200 posts from June 2010

June 30, 2010

Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg of the Chofetz Chaim Torah Center in Cedarhurst
repeatedly described the invitation to Rabba Hurwitz as a “great bizayon
haTorah [disgrace to the Torah], the degradation of the gedolei Torah
[rabbinic sages] that took place in our community.”

During the conference call meant to take the place of a national convention, Young Israel's national leaders repeatedly refused to discuss plans to expel a
member congregation and seize its assets. In response, a delegate made a
motion of no-confidence in the National Council’s leadership. With that,
the national leaders hung up, leaving delegates from across the country puzzled
and upset.

The Knesset is expected to look into the possibility that Israel Nature
and Parks Authority guides at the Soreq Cave Nature Reserve are
concealing the true age of the cavern's stalactites and the stalagmites
so as not to offend the beliefs of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox visitors.

June 28, 2010

The unusually severe sentence of 27 years in prison for Sholom Rubashkin
is a victory for a prosecution that from the outset pursued a
win-at-all-costs strategy. But the success comes at a price, and not
just to the 51-year-old man now facing a virtual life sentence, his wife
and 10 children. The government’s handling of this case has sullied our
justice system.

Leading the demonstrations of solidarity with Palestinian residents of
Sheikh Jarrah are some young Israelis with an Orthodox religious background. They
explain their activism and how it correlates to their conception of the
true meaning of the Torah.

June 27, 2010

"We are all with the residents of Emmanuel, and will not violate God's
word. The court in Israel conspires against the God-fearing public,
belittles its values, abuses its children, and revokes its rights."

According to the court approved agreement, students to return to school for school year's
remaining three days, study 'love of Israel' without separation. Judges
approve proposal after both parties state Supreme Court's desegregation ruling is being upheld. Outside of court, haredim claim victory: In Israel today, rabbis decide, not the secular courts.

June 25, 2010

U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose has decided "silence is no longer in
order." But should a U.S. attorney take offense at the exercise of First
Amendment rights by American citizens who support Sholom Rubashkin? Rose says Rubashkin's supporters have painted the prosecutors as
"racists, Nazis, and zealots." No responsible Rubashkin supporter has
said or implied anyone on the prosecution team is a racist or a Nazi.

Shas MKs shocked to find out parents of segregated Sefardic children are fully haredi, and that Ashkenazi complaints that these parents are "Sabbath violators" and "newly religious" are false. "They said Sabbath-desecrators? They are talking about me, me. They
spilled our blood in the media, everywhere, and you kept quiet. The
spilling of blood is also on you, because you kept quiet."

“Nobody responsible has made the allegation” of anti-Semitism, lead Rubashkin attorney Lewin said. The prosecutors “are overzealous and [have] done things they should not have done…" But before the trial Rubashkin attorney Guy Cook compared life for Rubashkin in Postville to the Warsaw Ghetto under the Nazis, and pro-Rubashkin rabbinic leaders–like chief Rubashkin fundraiser Pinchos Lipschutz– continue to openly claim antisemitism, as they have been doing since Rubashkin's initial arrest in 2008.

A wave of outrage rippled through New York’s haredi community, crossing
the usual ultra-Orthodox divisions, in response to the
announcement that Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin would be
sent to a federal jail for 27 years for bank fraud, with no possibility
of parole. Some Accuse Judge of Anti-Semitism, ‘Just Like Dreyfus!’

The Baal Shem Tov’s world-embracing legacy was turned into a weapon with
which to bludgeon anyone who dared deviate, whether in religious
practice, educational views or even in style of dress, from the norms of
the 18th century.

Fight over woman board president of Young Israel synagogue turns ugly. Shul's rabbi: “I’ve never been threatened before. It stayed with me a long time. There isn’t a day that goes by that this doesn’t bother me."

June 23, 2010

Jewish reggae star Matisyahu has sent an urgent letter on PETA's behalf to Israeli government leaders urging them to support a bill currently in the Knesset that would ban the fur trade in Israel. If the bill passes, Israel will be the first country to prohibit the production, sale, and importation of all fur products (with the exception of shtreimels, traditional fur hats worn by some Hasidim).

“A sentence of 27 years is beyond excessive, it is patently offensive —
especially for a nonviolent crime in a case where the defendant had no
prior criminal record,” said noted criminal attorney Ben Brafman, who
was not involved in the case.

"You've got such a wide range of criminal activity here. The case just kept building, and building, and building. Every time you
turned over another rock, there was another crime being committed - and
usually, it led to Sholom Rubashkin."

Our community still lags behind the Catholic Church in
addressing our catastrophe, due to the unwillingness of our leaders to
apologize and to reach out to survivors of abuse. Victims of abuse and their families
who call police are ostracized and bullied. Mainstream Orthodox media do not report on
cases of abuse, educate people about prevention or inform victims where
to go for help.

The haredi education system in London is private and very expensive. Therefore haredi men have no choice but to work if they want their children to attend haredi schools. In Israel, the state finances most of the system, so the men don't have to work in order for their children to attend haredi schools. In Israel, taxpayer money is squandered on a school system that is separate, anti-Zionist, antidemocratic, that sometimes discriminates on ethnic grounds and that does not prepare its graduates for the modern labor market.

June 22, 2010

The former Agriprocessors vice president remained calm during his
sentencing Tuesday in U.S. District Court but he did express his disdain
by telling friends in the gallery that the hearing would “show the
wickedness of these people.”

What does it take for the court to release a civilian prisoner for a few
hours for humanitarian reasons? In the case of the prisoners from the
settlement of Immanuel, not even a wife's miscarriage sufficed.

A former Iowa kosher slaughterhouse executive was sentenced Tuesday to
27 years in prison for financial fraud, a sentence legal experts called
severe but not necessarily surprising as judges take tough stances on
white-collar crime.

A concerted campaign emerged to paint prosecutors as racists, Nazis, and zealots. This office followed the law, stood silent in the face of vicious and false accusations, and worked to the conclusion of the case. Silence is no longer in order.

"The court is not above the rabbis – the rabbis are above [i.e., higher than] the law," another AWOL haredi mother said. "On Thursday things were very difficult for us and we had to care for our other children, so we didn't report to jail. In any case, we won't agree to unite the (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) classes."

Failed messiah was established and run in 2004 by Mr. Shmarya (Scott)Rosenberg. The site was acquired by Diversified Holdings, Feb 2016. .We thank Mr. Rosenberg for his efforts on behalf of the Jewish Community.

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